And the Oscar Goes to ... BuzzLogic Taps the Blogosphere's Influencers to Uncover the Odds-on Favorites for This Year's Academy Awards

And the Oscar Goes to ... BuzzLogic Taps the Blogosphere's Influencers to Uncover the Odds-on Favorites for This Year's Academy Awards

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- With the writer's strike finally over, Hollywood is scrambling to prepare for the Academy Awards, and the world anxiously awaits the red carpet, Jon Stewart's monologue and, most importantly, the giving away of the coveted gold statues. Although speculation around the strike and the status of the pinnacle awards ceremony upstaged some of the year's top performances, the most influential bloggers on entertainment and film related topics readily discussed their favorite Oscar-worthy movies and performances. Based on analysis of these influential social media conversations, BuzzLogic predicts who will be taking home statues on February 24th.

And the Oscar goes to ...

Best Picture
-- If influencer buzz is any indication "No Country for Old Men" will take
Best Picture hands down, as more then 50 percent of blog conversations
noted the Coen brother's latest masterpiece deserved the award. In
terms of pure volume, there were almost twice as many posts for "There
Will Be Blood" than the favored movie, which may be due to Daniel
Day-Lewis's riveting performance.
-- Bloggers love "Juno," and many are hoping the indie film will be this
year's dark horse winner. Hey, the Giants won the Super Bowl against
the heavily favored Patriots, so anything can happen, right?
Conversations note this could be the year of the underdog.

Best Actor
-- Daniel Day-Lewis incited a blogosphere frenzy, and is heavily favored
within top blog conversations to take home the Actor statue.

Best Actress
-- The Oscar for Best Actress is still a toss-up. Blog conversations
monitored by BuzzLogic favor Julie Christie by a slim margin, but will
the veteran actress turn her fourth nomination into a second statue?
-- "Enchanted" actress Amy Adams also received blog mentions for her turn
as a fish-out-of-water princess banished to the Big Apple. Will this
long shot take the stage on Oscar night?
-- More than 60 percent of the influential bloggers noted that the Academy
won't give double nominee Cate Blanchett two awards, and she is heavily
favored to win Best Supporting Actress instead.

Best Supporting Actor/Actress
-- According to the level of opinion leader chatter, the Supporting Actor
category seems to be a three way race: influencer conversations are
split evenly between Javier Bardem (who won the Golden Globe) for his
role in "No Country for Old Men", Casey Affleck in "The Assassination
of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" and Tom Wilkinson for
"Michael Clayton." Both Wilkinson and Bardem have been nominated
before, will the second time prove to be the charm? Or will Affleck
show that winning Academy Awards runs in the family? Only time will
tell for this one.
-- The influencers love Miss Blanchett, and she is the hands down favorite
for her gender-bending role as Bob Dylan.

Best Director
-- The Coen Brothers are tagged by the influencers to win Best Director --
58 percent of them noted the indomitable pair would receive the award
on the 24th. However, Julian Schnabel -- winner of the Golden Globe for
Best Director -- could give the Coens a run for the prize with "The
Diving Bell and the Butterfly." Thirty percent of the influencers noted
the former artist Schnabel as another potential underdog winner.

And after the awards? Hollywood's biggest partiers will be out of luck as some bashes have already been cancelled.

-- The blogosphere was on fire with discussion on what celebs were to do
after the awards ceremony, as some events, including the fashionable
Vanity Fair party, have been cancelled this year. Dani Janssen's
private bash, "Oscars at Dani's" is another party casualty, and there
are rumors that the Entertainment Weekly event is kaput. The reason?
Some blogs note the sliding economy; some note the extravagance and
expense of each party; others blame the loss of advertising dollars by
publications that traditionally hold after parties. No matter the
event, stars (and writers) will be enjoying the champagne come Oscar
night.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: BuzzLogic

CONTACT: Jen Conway, +1-978-463-0289, Jennifer@dottedlinecomm.com, for
BuzzLogic

NOTE TO EDITORS: Valerie Combs, Director of Influencer Relations, BuzzLogic, is available to discuss the end of year results. To speak with Valerie, or for more information on BuzzLogic, please contact: Jen Conway, 978.463.0289, Jennifer@dottedlinecomm.com.

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